In
the United States, going to camp is a customary way to spend the
summer for millions of children. There are hundreds of different
types of summer camps like day camps, science camps, religious camps,
sports camps and traditional residential, or “sleep away” camps.
Each one is unique with different traditions, activities and goals
for camper outcomes. In the U.S alone there are more than 12,000
camps which are attended by 11 million children and adults and employ
more than 1.5 million adults to work in various camp positions
(American Camp Association, 2014). It is important for such a large
industry to utilize social media practically and to understand how
social media affects their campers, camp families, and staff. There
are so many ways camps can use social media for marketing and
increasing enrollments, helping to maintain a community through the
off season and keeping parents up to date during the camp season, and
many more which will be discussed throughout this analysis.
Some
camps are already using social media platforms like Facebook, but
what is certain is that most of their campers are on Facebook, and
likely some of the parents too; what does this mean for summer camps?
How can they use social media to their advantage? What are the
implications of this on a traditional summer camp experience? These
are all issues that will be addressed and analyzed with hopes to help
traditional summer camps keep up with the internet and social media
while maintaining their values. The “traditional” camp
experience in the U.S is to attend a sleep-away camp for several
weeks during the summer break. These camps usually promote the
benefits of being outdoors, making new friends, nurturing personal
growth and giving children the ability to take risks in a safe
environment to develop feelings of independence, leadership and moral
values (Dahl, Sethre-Hofstad, & Salomon, 2013). The opportunity
to go to camp is one worth taking and it is through social media that
camps can extend their reach and bring more people to camp.
Video by Brett Booker: "Home" at Forest Lake Camp
References
Dahl, T. I., Sethre-Hofstad, L., &
Salomon, G. (2013). Intentionally Designed Thinking and
Experience
Spaces: What We Learned at Summer Camp. Learning Environments
Research, 16(1), 91-112.
